Network [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Now then, I mentioned that this is a true Ultimate Edition release with substantial extras carried over from both the Network UK BD sets and also the more recent Shout! Factory BD set. So let’s break down the contents of Imprint’s new box set disc by disc (note that some of the special features listed in HD have been upsampled from SD)… Notable guest stars over the series’ run included Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ian McShane ( Deadwood, American Gods), Sarah Douglas ( Superman II), David Prowse ( Star Wars), Brian Blessed ( Flash Gordon), Angus MacInnes ( Star Wars, Rogue One), and many others.

As with all biopic films, The Social Network must be taken with a pinch of salt. It is based on the book, The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich, which itself can be taken with the same. And with director David Fincher giving his own interpretation of the screenplay such as the emphasis on the situations that take place, the major events that affected the outcome, or indeed bypassing whole occurrences in favour of drama, the result is a story that, whilst having a basis in fact, has more in tune with fantasy than truth. Space: 1999 was originally released on DVD in 2001 by Carlton Media in the UK and A&E in the US. In 2004, Carlton was absorbed in a corporate takeover that resulted in the creation of a new company, ITV Network, who then reissued Season One on DVD in the UK in 2005. The company eventually restored and remastered the series with new HD scans of the original camera negatives and extensive digital clean-up. Network released Season One on Blu-ray in the UK in 2010 and licensed the US rights to A&E/New Video, who released Season One on BD here in the States that same year ( see our review of that set here on The Bits). Unfortunately, it look longer for Network to restore Season Two, a process that began in 2007. It was also more costly because the audio for Season Two needed additional remastering (this work had already been done for Season One). Network wanted to share those costs with New Video, but the US distributor balked. So Network released Season Two on Blu-ray in the UK in 2015 ( see our review here), but no US release was forthcoming until Shout! Factory finally licensed the US rights in 2019, at which point they released Space: 1999 – The Complete Series as a Blu-ray box set ( you can read our review of that set here as well).

Few films resonate with audiences for several generations after their release quite like Sidney Lumet's 'Network.' The film perfectly captures a human attribute born out of modernity which seems universally relevant no matter the age of moviegoers. And today, possibly more than ever, Paddy Chayefsky's eloquent, sharply-written and provocative script still speaks to us with such eye-opening accuracy and insight. 'Network' displays an alien reality with ferocity and urgency, imitating the speed at which the world of TV production moves. People speak at full tilt in a foreign language while major decisions are made within moments, and money is always at the heart of every matter. The only difference between a board meeting and a terrorist organization talking distribution rights is the scenery.

Description: Original Goon Michael Bentine co-writes and gives a memorable performance as an amiable 'Sandwich Man' in this gentle, whimsical comedy that features a Who's Who? of British talent, including Norman Wisdom, Diana Dors, Harry H. Corbett, Dora Bryan, Bernard Cribbins and Terry-Thomas. The Sandwich Man is featured here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Tune in Next Tuesday – a visual essay by Dave Itzkoff, the author of Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in MoviesAs a piece, The Owl Service maintains a sense of tragic inevitability and largely maintained ambiguity throughout its eight episodes. It somewhat botches these aspects with an abrupt and overly convenient finale, but there is enough unsettling atmosphere, interpersonal and social tensions and echoes of folklore to let this time capsule resonate for a time in the memory.